MAJOR GRAMMAR

ERRORS

Know Your Evaluation

Standards
What are the Major Errors?

Your Course Outline identifies the following as Major

Grammar Errors:

• Run-on sentences
• Sentence fragments
• Comma-spliced sentences
• Faulty sentence construction
• Subject-verb disagreement
• Pronoun errors
• Modifier errors
• Faulty parallelism
 Major Errors & Evaluation

You will want to understand and avoid the Major

Errors in your writing as they can significantly
impact your overall grade.

• An “A” paper demonstrates that all course learning

requirements are met in a consistently outstanding
manner and will contain no more than 1 major error or 4
minor errors.

• A “B” paper will contain no more than 2 major errors or

5 minor errors.
Evaluating Your Written Work, cont.

• A “C” paper will contain no more than 3 major errors or

7 minor errors.

• A “D” paper will contain no more than 4 major errors or

9 minor errors.

• An “F” paper will contain 5 or more major errors

and/or 10 or more minor errors.
Run-on Sentences

A run-on sentence joins two, independent

clauses (complete sentences) without
sufficient punctuation.

Example: The client has arrived the

meeting room is ready.

Correction: The client has arrived. The

meeting room is ready.
Comma-spliced Sentences

A comma-spliced sentence joins two,

independent clauses with a comma (which is
insufficient).

Example: Therapy sessions begin at noon, there are

nine participants in each session.

Correction: Therapy sessions begin at noon, and

there are nine participants in each session.
Sentence Fragments

Sentence fragments are incomplete thoughts.

They occur when:

A. A fragment contains a subject but no verb.

B. A fragment contains a verb but no subject.
C. A fragment contains a subject and a verb but is incomplete
or does not make sense.

Example of A: She to the child care centre.

Example of B: Driving to the child care centre.
Example of C: When she was driving to the child care
centre.
Faulty Sentence Construction

Faulty sentence construction occurs when a

sentence is convoluted, lacks words, or
contains unclear language.

Example: Body language is crucial element of

communication skills for successful communication
between.

Correction: Body language is an important

communication skill.
Subject-verb Disagreement

Subject-verb disagreement occurs when

your subject and your verb do not agree.

Example: The coaches blows the whistle.

Correction: The coaches blow the whistle.

Example: Everybody have good intentions.

Correction: Everybody has good intentions.
Pronoun Errors

Pronoun errors occur when the pronoun

does not agree with its antecedent.

Example: The man that ate my hotdog is going to jail.

Correction: The man who ate my hotdog is going to jail.

Example: Although the car hit the sign, it was not damaged.
Correction: Although the car hit the sign, the sign was not
damaged.
Modifier Errors

Modifier errors occur when a word or phrase

in the sentence is incorrectly modifying (or
changing) the meaning of the sentence.

Example: Scampering up the tree, she watched the

squirrel run away from the dog.
Correction: Scampering up the tree, the squirrel ran from
the dog.
Correction: She watched the squirrel scamper up the tree
away from the dog.
Faulty Parallelism
Faulty parallelism occurs when a list or set of
parallel ideas is presented to the reader using
different forms.

Example: She enjoys basketball, volleyball, and the game with

the birdie.
Correction: She enjoys basketball, volleyball, and badminton.

Example: The client should complete the paperwork and bringing

the necessary materials is important.
Correction: The client should complete the paperwork and bring
the necessary materials.
Know Your Major Errors!